Fox is planning to ignore all of them. "The debates are there," Jeff DeRome, a vice president of Fox Broadcasting Network told Reuters news service. "I don't think it's incumbent on every broadcast network to carry the same program."

In the era of only three commercial networks, and no cable, the networks deemed it a kind of civic duty to cover major political events. Apparently no more.

Fox may reap a financial edge as CBS and ABC run basically identical coverage of the commercial-free debate while Fox airs lucrative commercials and lures away potential debate watchers.

Meanwhile, "the president" is speaking out about Hollywood's low standards. Actor Martin Sheen, who plays "President Josiah Bartlet" on the popular NBC drama "West Wing," says he agrees with Democratic vice-presidential candidate Joseph Lieberman's criticisms. He's "absolutely right," Sheen told the Associated Press. "A lot of what we do has very little to do with art. It has to do with sleaze and gratuitous sex and unnecessary violence."